Admiral says North Korea is Direct Threat to US

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told Locklear that the North Korean regime’s threats “appear to exceed its capabilities, and its use of what capabilities it has against the U.S. or our allies seems highly unlikely and would be completely contrary to the regime’s primary goal of survival.

“Nonetheless, its words and actions are not without consequences,” Levin said.

The Democrat did question the Obama administration’s decision to delay a long-scheduled operational test of an intercontinental ballistic missile amid the North Korea rhetoric.

Locklear said he agreed with the decision to delay the test through a tenuous time.

“We have demonstrated to the people of the region, demonstrated to the leadership of North Korea, our ability and willingness to defend our nation, our people, our allies and our forward deployed forces,” Locklear said, citing several of the other steps the U.S. military has taken in recent weeks.

The U.S. has moved two of the Navy’s missile-defense ships closer to the Korean peninsula, and a land-based system is being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam. The U.S. also called attention to the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercise that included a practice run over South Korea by B-2 stealth bombers.

Levin mentioned that President Barack Obama recently talked to China’s new president, Xi Jinping, about the U.S. efforts to deal with North Korea. Locklear said he has not had similar conversations with his Chinese counterparts.